AstraZeneca, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, published A Dream-Driven Journey of Public Welfare, its first China philanthropy white paper, at its annual volunteer meeting on Monday in Qingdao.

The British-Swedish company celebrated its 10th anniversary of volunteer initiatives in the country and also announced the donation of computers and teaching materials to Qingdao Yilin Autism School.

Michael Lai, general manager of AstraZeneca China, Laurence Huang, vice-president of corporate affairs and market access of Astra-Zeneca China and Lily Yan, vice-president and head of compliance of Astra Zeneca China attended the ceremony, where they had extensive exchanges with the volunteer representatives.

AstraZeneca has been running volunteer programs in China since 2009, training more than 2,000 volunteers now active in nearly 30 cities across China to improve the public well-being through a variety of volunteer initiatives.

The China philanthropy white paper chronicles charitable initiatives launched by AstraZeneca in the country such as patient aid, targeted poverty alleviation, community support, volunteer activities, science education, environmental protection, earthquake and disaster relief. The activities have contributed to the well-being of the country, society and even the planet.

"The first philanthropy white paper by AstraZeneca summarizes our charitable endeavors and what we have achieved," said Lai. "Philanthropic initiatives are our unshakable responsibility and the cornerstone of our sustainability efforts. Based on the concept of 'In China, for China', we are committed to a diverse range of public benefit initiatives, where we work with partners from the society and the corporate world to focus on vulnerable groups and realize the dream of public well-being."

Philanthropic campaigns

"At AstraZeneca, we encourage employees to become volunteers and give full support to those in need. By the end of 2018, our volunteers worked for 7,239 hours and held 137 campaigns in 26 cities in China, directly benefiting over 13,500 people," said Huang.

AstraZeneca also places great importance on local communities, where it mobilizes volunteers to support vulnerable groups, especially youth. For the past decade, company volunteers have provided health knowledge and care to autistic kids and urban migrant children.

AstraZeneca has provided long-term and targeted support to schools in remote areas like Linquan in East China's Anhui province, Haidong in Northwest China's Qinghai province, Xingxian in North China's Shanxi province and Luhe in South China's Guangdong province since 2005, an initiative designed to help local communities combat poverty through education.

The company has provided funding to local infrastructure and donated learning and living supplies to the schools.

AstraZeneca launched several poverty relief initiatives in healthcare, responding to the government's call of targeted poverty alleviation.

The company organized medical experts to train doctors and hold training workshops for local doctors, donating medicines and medical equipment to poverty-stricken areas in the Tibet autonomous region, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and provinces of Sichuan, Jiangxi and Shaanxi.

Through the Tibet-Xinjiang healthcare support initiative, AstraZeneca helped enhance the management capability and medical technology of more than 500 local hospitals, training more than 1,500 medical professionals and teachers. AstraZeneca joined the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in launching the Rainbow Bridge Project at the end of 2016 to improve the health of left-behind children and care for their physical and mental well-being. AstraZeneca has also provided disaster relief during earthquakes. By the end of 2018, the company had donated 19.25 million yuan ($2.79 million) in funds, materials and medicines to disaster-affected areas.

Support for "Healthy China"

Being patient-centric is the core value of AstraZeneca. To cut the financial burdens of low-income patients, the company is working with several charitable organizations to launch multiple patient aid projects, covering problems like tumors, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as metabolic disorder. Nearly 420,000 people benefited from the projects in 2018.

Meanwhile, the company has established the new "philanthropy+ insurance" model in association with other stakeholders to alleviate medical burdens and provide patients with comprehensive safety nets.

AstraZeneca has empowered grassroots healthcare capabilities through training programs like A Journey of Healthy China to boost medical resources of large hospitals in metropolitan areas and improve medical services of county-level hospitals to achieve the goal of "all minor diseases treated in the village and all major diseases treated in the county".

By the end of 2018, nearly 500 patients benefited directly from the program and 70 medical experts participated. In addition, the company is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment and management of village-and county-level hospitals through the Aurora Program and Starlight Program, which covered almost 4,000 healthcare organizations by the end of 2018, consisting of more than more than 600 county-level hospitals and 3,000 township health centers and village health rooms.

Environmental and technology innovation

Through the Safety, Health and Environment strategy, AstraZeneca applies the concept of Green AstraZeneca in all aspects of what the company does by building green factories, green buildings and green workplaces to prevent harmful use of natural resources and drive sustainable development.

As an innovation-driven company, AstraZeneca believes in the infinite possibilities of science. AstraZeneca has held the Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative in China since 2011, a program that regularly invites Nobel laureates to universities and research institutes to share inspirational stories and insights with students, young scientists and scientific researchers.

By the end of 2018, the Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative had been held at six leading universities such as Peking University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China and Zhejiang University, helping sow the seeds of science among thousands of university students.

"2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 26th anniversary of AstraZeneca entering the Chinese market. Committed to patient-centric core values, AstraZeneca has not only introduced innovative medicines for patients in China, but also leveraged its own advantages and joined public welfare partners to build a wider philanthropy platform and strived to improve the well-being of China, society and even the planet," said Huang.